The 2009 Spirit Award Nominations

'Ballast,' 'Frozen River' and 'Rachel Getting Married' lead the way with six noms

By: Brad Brevet
Published: Tuesday, December 2nd 2008 at 1:33 PM

The Film Independent Spirit Award nominations were announced this morning by Jason Bateman and Sandra Oh and there is a three-way tie at the top of the pack as Ballast, Frozen River and Rachel Getting Married each received six nominations each. All three films will compete in the Best Feature, Best Director, Best Actress and Best Screenplay categories. Also competing for feature will be Wendy and Lucy and The Wrestler which received two and three nominations respectively. Milk scored four nominations.

What does any of this mean in terms of Oscar? Well, one thing you will notice come this Thursday when I present my latest predictions will be that I have corrected my accidental snub of Melissa Leo in Frozen River as she should have been on the list already in the Best Actress category and she will most likely find herself in the top five. I think this confirms Rachel Getting Married is going to be a contender even though some are writing it off, and while I don't think it will be competing for Best Picture there is a lot of life left in it for Best Actress, Supporting Actress and Original Screenplay. Other than that, I don't see much else outside of a possible bump for The Visitor.

Oh, and perhaps the most interesting nomination is the one for Rosie Perez as Supporting Female in The Take, a film that went straight to DVD here in the States. I'm not saying it is a bad film, it just caught me off guard.

The complete are listed below. The winners of the 24th Annual Spirit Awards will be unveiled at Film Independent's Spirit Awards ceremony on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2009.

Best Feature

• Ballast
• Frozen River
• Rachel Getting Married
• Wendy and Lucy
• The Wrestler

Best Director

• Ramin Bahrani, Chop Shop
• Jonathan Demme, Rachel Getting Married
• Lance Hammer, Ballast
• Courtney Hunt, Frozen River
• Thomas McCarthy, The Visitor

Best First Feature

• Afterschool
• Medicine for Melancholy
• Sangre de Mi Sangre
• Sleep Dealer
• Synecdoche, New York

John Cassavetes Award (Given to the best feature made for under $500,000)

• In Search of a Midnight Kiss
• Prince of Broadway
• The Signal
• Take Out
• Turn the River

Best First Screenplay

• Dustin Lance Black, Milk
• Lance Hammer, Ballast
• Courtney Hunt, Frozen River
• Jonathan Levine, The Wackness
• Jenny Lumet, Rachel Getting Married

Best Screenplay

• Woody Allen, Vicky Cristina Barcelona
• Anna Fleck and Ryan Boden, Sugar
• Charlie Kaufman, Synecdoche, New York
• Howard A. Rodman, Savage Grace
• Christopher Zalla, Sangre de Mi Sangre

Best Female Lead

• Summer Bishil, Towelhead
• Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married
• Melissa Leo, Frozen River
• Tarra Riggs, Ballast
• Michelle Williams, Wendy and Lucy

Best Male Lead

• Javier Bardem, Vicky Cristina Barcelona
• Richard Jenkins, The Visitor
• Sean Penn, Milk
• Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker
• Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler

Best Supporting Female

• Penelope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona
• Rosemarie DeWitt, Rachel Getting Marriedv
• Rosie Perez, The Take
• Misty Upham, Frozen River
• Debra Winger, Rachel Getting Married

Best Supporting Male

• James Franco, Milk
• Anthony Mackie, The Hurt Locker
• Charlie McDermott, Frozen River
• JimMyron Ross, Ballast
• Haaz Sleiman, The Visitor

Best Cinematography

• Maryse Alberti, The Wrestler
• Lol Crowley, Ballast
• James Laxton, Medicine for Melancholy
• Harris Savides, Milk
• Michael Simmonds, Chop Shop

Best Documentary

• The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)
• Encounters at the End of the World
• Man on Wire
• The Order of Myths
• Up the Yangtze

Best Foreign Film

• The Class (France)
• Gomorrah (Italy)
• Hunger (UK/Ireland)
• Secret of the Grain (France)
• Silent Light (Mexico/France/Netherlands/Germany)

Robert Altman Award (Given to one film’s director, casting director and ensemble cast)

• Synecdoche, New York